Improvement in hand-stamps



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE..

JAMES MURDOCK, JR., OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAN D-STAM PS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 217,546, dated July 15, 1879; application filed e April 15, 1879.

To all whom it 'may concern Be it known that I, JAMEs MURDocK, Jr., of Cincinnati, Hamilton county, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hand-Stamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention belongs to that class of handstamps Which consist, essentially, of a printin g-die witha handle attached. Such stamps are used for canceling, marking, and dating purposes, and it is well known that if the die is not impressed squarely upon the printingsurface a perfect impression cannot be made. To obviate this it is common to make such stamps with the diearranged so as to be iieXible with regard to the handle.

When changeable dates are used in dies it is an annoying matter to properly place them. If put in from the face of the die, a set-screw must be used to holdV them. This gets loose and allows the dates to fall out and get lost. If put in from the back of the die, the die 'must be turned over to see if the dates are in properly. This gives the dates another chance to fallout. This annoyance occurs every day,

not in a printing-office, the home of types, but in post-offices and commercial offices, Where manipulation of devices is not provided for or welcome, and where little demand for skill will often condemn a really good and useful contrivance.

Devices for use in such places must contain within themselves the elements of certain and convenient adjustment.

The object of my invention is to provide a neat, substantial, and simple flexible joint for the handles of stamps, and to provide dates which can be placed in proper position from the back of the die without the necessity of looking at the face of the die.

My invention consists of a handle provided with a sha-nk having a ball-shaped end, a iiange upon the shank, and aspring upon the fia-nge, combined with a die-holder having a seat for the shank; and a ferrule or cap inclosing and compressing the spring, anda unitshown, and fits a cavity the top of the dieholder, by which means the die-holder is ren- (lered capable of rocking in any direction With reference to the handle.

The shank has a iiange, J, near its lower end, and above this flange is placed the Spring I.

The die-holder has an annular iiange upon its upper surface, as shown. 5

The i'errule or cap D is placed over the shank and iits upon the flange of the dieholder. y

The hole in the top of the cap Dy is large enough to permit the shank to play freely sidewise within it. v

The top ofthe cap D rests upon the spring and compresses it. The cap thus serves to inclose the spring, &c., and to hold the parts together.

A piu, K, is put through both sides of the cap D and die-holder flange, and through a hole across the shank, playing freely within the latter.

The pin is riveted at each end, andfastens the parts permanently together.

This device allows free flexation Without shake or looseness, the spring taking up all slack without interfering with free action.

The die-holder is threaded and furnished with the milled nut F, which holds the die Gr in place.

The die G is provided with a dovetailed recess for the reception of the dates H.

On the back of the die, at the top, is stamped the Word Topf7 as shown in Fig. 3, in which two dates are shown inposition. -One of the dates is shown enlarged in Fig. 2. The dates are recessed or relieved in the back, so as to bear squarely.

In the recess is stamped the word, Top, as shown. This word is placed at the top side of the date, and is to indicate the position ofthe letters, Sto., upon the face of the date. These dates cannot be reversed in the die without discovery from the back.

I claim as my invention- In a hand-stamp, the iianged die-holder E, anged shank C, spring I, cap D, and uniting-pin K, passing through the die-holder flange, through the cap D, and tliroughthe shank C, substantially as specied.

JAS. MURDOCK, JR.

Witnesses:

J. W. SEE, J. D. RING. 

